Pemi Aguda is the first recipient of the new residency for African writers announced today by the Centre for African Cultural Excellence (CACE) and South Africa’s Stellenbosch University English department. This new residency for emerging African Writers gets basic funding from the Miles Morland Foundation with the university supporting the programme in kind. Apart from […]
The annual Caine Prize Workshop ended yesterday at the Chaminuka Lodge near Lusaka, Zambia. The participants included previous winners of the Caine Prize, those shortlisted as well as some who would be considered future stars. The writers at the workshop included 2015 Caine Prize winner, Namwali Serpell (Zambia), 2014 winner Okwiri Oduor (Kenya), 2013 winner […]
Ciku Kimeria has given an interview with Short Story Day Africa where she speaks about a variety of issues include what compels her to write, lessons from self-publishing as well teasing her new novel. Ciku Kimeria burst onto the literary scene with her book Of Goats and Poisoned Oranges in 2013 which I have reviewed […]
Syria is on fire. Between the Syrian government and the terror group ISIS, a human crisis has hit the world, resulting in one of the biggest tragedies of displacement in recent memory. One of the countries offering refuge to the displaced Syrians is Germany. Renowned German author Tanja Dückers will be the first guest expected […]
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s story The Upright Revolution (or Why Humans Walk Upright) is the story at the centre of Jalada Africa’s latest anthology dubbed The Translation Issue. The story which was initially written in Kikuyu and translated into English by Kenya’s leading author is a folk tale about the human body parts and a battle […]
The Abuja Writers Forum curated by Dr Emman Shehu convened on Saturday 26th March 2016 at the Nanet Suites in Nigeria’s capital city. So what were you up to on Saturday night? Well if you are in Abuja and love the written word then the best option is the Abuja Writers Forum which happens on the […]
The Writers Project of Ghana and Goethe Institute will kick off the first reading in the Ghana Voices Series for 2016 this Wednesday, 30th March 2016. It will be a cracker as the event hosted at the Goethe Institute, 30 Kakramadu Close, East Cantonments, Accra will feature contributors of the Writers Project of Ghana’s 2015 […]
The Ebedi International Writers Residency fellows for March/April 2016 are Blessing Christopher, Farida Adamu, Mariam Sule and Funke Awofeso. These four writers are currently ensconced in the lush hills of Iseyin town hopefully bringing us the next big African novel. The Ebedi International Writer’s Residency located in Iseyin town, Oyo State Nigeria is a one […]
Fiston Mwanza Mujila was the winner of the most recent Etisalat Prize for Literature in a ceremony in Lagos on 19th March 2016. The chief judge of the prize Ato Quayson who is a professor at the University of Toronto had very positive words to say about the book when he made the presentation […]
Literary Crossroads is a new series of talks hosted at the Goethe in three African cities where writers meet colleagues from all over the world and from the African diaspora. At these events in Nairobi, Johannesburg and Lagos they discuss trends, topics and themes prevalent in their literatures today. The first of the events in 2016 […]
Over a year ago, I started writing a column in the literary pages of the Saturday Nation. In that time, the bulk of the emails I have received from prospective Kenyan writers largely have a request and a complaint. The request is to find out whether I will be doing any writing workshops and if […]
It was a big night for poet and novelist Fiston Mwanza Mujila on Saturday, 19th March 2016 as he was announced the winner of the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature for his first novel, Tram 83. Originally written in French, Tram 83 was translated into English by Roland Glasser and published by Deep Vellum. 35-year-old Mujila is the first Francophone […]
The Association of Nigerian Authors has made a call out for its 2016 literary prize. The association which had Chinua Achebe as founding chairman is looking for entries in the following categories. The prize money is put alongside. ANA Prize for Poetry (published & unpublished) – N 100,000 2. ANA Prize for Prose Fiction (published […]
The Morocco Book Awards were announced yesterday with winners in six categories going home with the plaudits. The Morocco Book Award gives awards in six categories, including literature, translation, and poetry. Winners were selected from among 175 submissions, 36 of which were in the literature category, 37 in poetry, and 35 in translation The biggest winner on […]
Zimbabwe’s Petina Gappah has made it onto the shortlist of the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award 2016 that was announced yesterday. She is listed for her story The News of Her Death that ran in the Transatlantic. The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award is, at £30,000 to the winner, the world’s richest prize […]
